28 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Truck Crop Insects. 



It has long been known that such insects as the Colorado 

 potato beetle and the codling moth can be controlled by the 

 application of arsenical poisons, but with aphides and numer- 

 ous other insects it is important to know their life histories 

 in order to combat them successfully. The truck farmer can 

 apply the remedies, but the investigator should work out the 

 life histories in order to know when best to make the applica- 

 tion. Recent studies conducted at the Virginia Truck Experi- 

 ment Station show that the pea aphis spends a great deal of 

 its time while not on peas on clovers and similar plants which 

 are green throughout the mild winters. Consequently, a large 

 number of insects are in waiting when the peas make their 

 appearance in the early spring. A knowledge of this fact 

 serves to caution the trucker not to grow peas and clover in 

 close proximity. 



The feeding and migratory habits of the insect should be 

 studied carefully. The larvae of the fig beetle in the south has 

 the obnoxious habit of feeding on organic matter contained in 

 very rich, sandy soils. Their burrows in the soil are sometimes 

 so numerous that such a crop as parsley may be practically 

 ruined. The insects have the habit of coming to the surface 

 of the ground at night and crawling from place to place. A 

 knowledge of this habit enables the truck farmer to trap them 

 in open ditches. 



By the omission of crops in rotation which furnish hibernat- 

 ing places, or by the intelligent disposition of the refuse left 

 after harvesting, the injury from other classes of insects may 

 be greatly reduced. 



Marketing Problems. 

 The various phases of harvesting and marketing are fruitful 

 fields for investigation. Refrigeration in transit and pre-cool- 

 ing for long shipments are receiving the attention of the fruit 

 growers, but very few experimental shipments of vegetables 

 have been undertaken. This question is interstate in its char- 

 acter. Consequently, it should be undertaken by the Federal 

 Department of Agriculture, or by different experiment stations 

 as a co-operative project. 



